Question for those who have tried Notgrass History

[Guest primrose mother]

All reviews I see about Notgrass History are positive, but I have to ask, "Does it really cover history well?" I bought the books (Exploring World History 1 & 2) with the My Father's World package, and have looked through them 3 times, and all I see is a Bible study with one-sentence facts about history stated here and there. I don't see that this could be thorough or memorable, outside of Bible history. I don't mean to be negative, but I am searching for what makes people think it is good for history, since I don't see that being the case, because the rest of the program looks like one I would love to use. I appreciate your input whichever way your opinion goes :) Thank you!

[mom31257]

I have not used Notgrass, but I will share my research of it. My dh is a public school history teacher. I asked him to read through the samples on Notgrass' site, and while he thought the information was fine, he thought it was poorly written. He read this after going to hear the author speak at the SC conference (yes, we were there!) and wasn't impressed with him as a speaker. He tried to keep an open mind because he knows the two don't always go hand in hand.

 

He read through the sample of BJU's textbook and felt it was much better for a high school textbook. I wanted to use a Christian text alongside a secular text during a four year history cycle. It's going to be BJU and probably Glencoe.

[Lori D.]

We've only used the Notgrass American History, as I think it is impossible to cover 5000 years of world history in 30 weeks in the way the Notgrass World History attempts. (And -- JMO! -- I think to try and use Notgrass World History as a spine and use it over 2 years is just not worth it for *us*. 30 weeks of lessons spread over 72 weeks of 2 school years -- I know my DC would so forget what happened weeks before when we would have last used the "spine" book, it would no longer be worthwhile for us.)

 

 

We used the Notgrass American History after 2 years of Spielvogel's Human Odyssey textbook to cover ancient world history and then modern world history, and found, in comparison, the informal tone of Notgrass to be much more engaging than the dry, droning textbook style of Spielvogel. We also appreciated the change to a Christian point of view with Notgrass, from Spielvogel's secular, liberal, slightly pro-socialist point of view.

 

While there are textbooks that go more in-depth, Notgrass American History covered as much as we wanted to cover, still leaving us time to read other resources to balance out the point of view or go deeper on a topic of interest. In each lesson, Notgrass touches on the politics, economics, social, racial/ethnic, and religious aspects of American history. While he does not go into as much depth on the Colonial times and Revolutionary War or the Civil War, as we might have wanted, I *did* appreciate that he covered every single president and at least touched briefly on key events, policies, or issues faced by each president -- again, allowing us to go deeper, using a variety of materials to get a more balanced picture of American history.

 

I did greatly appreciate the primary source document volume which accompanies Notgrass American History. I think the Bible and Literature portions of the program are far too weak and incomplete to each be called 1 credit's worth of Bible and 1 credit's worth of Literature. I think some of the last chapters in the American History are too pro-Reagan/Bush/W. Bush and pro-military, and don't even touch on some of the extremely complex and difficult issues and changes in American culture from about 1970 on. On the other hand, you definitely sense Notgrass' pride in his country and his love of history -- not a bad place to start to encourage a student who is not very "into" history or the standard textbook approach.

 

 

All that said, I don't think Notgrass is for everyone. I see Notgrass as filling a niche between straight textbook (such as BJUP), and programs that exclusively use "real books" and historical fiction (Sonlight). There's room at the history table for a wide assortment of programs! ;)

 

 

BEST of luck in finding the history text and/or program that best fits your family's needs and interests! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited April 3, 2011 by Lori D.

[Julie in MN]

We're using Notgrass World with AHL right now :) Here are my personal thoughts:

 

- it's a nice intro to textbook reading & rote questions, since the text has lots of white space, large print, and frequent illustrations (MFW uses a BJU textbook for American history)

- MFW uses it as one resource along with reading an entire Usborne History Encyclopedia and the 39 books of the Old Testament, the lengthy Homeschool in the Woods timeline figures, mapping projects, etc.

- the first part that is used in AHL has a lot of Bible content because a lot of first-source ancient history is Biblical (and actually Notgrass sometimes just repeats material read about in the other materials, so you could skip some of the early Notgrass chapters if you really wanted to); if you move forward to the WHL section of Notgrass (Rome & beyond), you might notice more world history and more use of the sourcebook which I like, but remember there will again be other materials besides Notgrass

- the Notgrass writing prompts used in AHL are lighter assignments that are sort-of a break from the heavier essays required in the literature supplement, so it's nice the kids have some variety in essay types

[MamaT]

I have not used Notgrass, but I will share my research of it. My dh is a public school history teacher. I asked him to read through the samples on Notgrass' site, and while he thought the information was fine, he thought it was poorly written. He read this after going to hear the author speak at the SC conference (yes, we were there!) and wasn't impressed with him as a speaker. He tried to keep an open mind because he knows the two don't always go hand in hand.

 

He read through the sample of BJU's textbook and felt it was much better for a high school textbook. I wanted to use a Christian text alongside a secular text during a four year history cycle. It's going to be BJU and probably Glencoe.

 

I was also at the SC Convention and took a look at Notgrass. I agree that the text was too simplistic for high school and passed on it. We will use Spielvogel (and maybe Churchill) along with Paul Johnson's book for American history next year for Early Modern.

[LatinTea]

I have both sets, the World and the American history. They are different in that the font is smaller in American history, so there is more text on every page. My son took the CLEP U.S. history tests and I looked up a few of those topics and they were in Notgrass's text. So, I don't see that the American history is lacking (and I value Lori D.'s opinion on this and literature ;)).

 

The World History text is definitely for a younger audience. In that, I mean 9th and 10th, not senior high. I too, felt that the bible history portion takes away from the other areas of world history in the 1st book. Greece and Rome were given minimal attention while there's a whole lesson on 'Everyday Life: The Story of Ruth' (and this wasn't even the bible lesson for that week). In the second book, there are lessons on the history of transportation, clothing, eating, and household furnishings. Ummm, I don't think those are worthy of taking up all those lessons when World War I and II are only allotted one week.

 

All that said, I'm thinking that my dd might still continue to use the WH text this coming year. :) I love the way Mr. Notgrass intertwines bible and history with an emphasis on church history, and how to apply a Christian worldview with history in mind.

Edited April 3, 2011 by LatinTea

[yinne]

My ds is using Notgrass American History this year and it is working for him; he is learning and remembering the info. I tried to do TOG with him and it was just too much -- he was overwhelmed with the amount of info to get through. On the other hand, my dd who really enjoys history and is planning on majoring in history would be totally bored with Notgrass and really enjoys TOG.

 

Bottom line: 'good' history for ds because that is what works for him, but it would not be a fit for dd.

 

Yvonne in NE

[grace4me]

I have been asking these very same questions and love, love, love the experience on these boards. (thanks Lori D., Margo and the rest!) I also heard a suggestion from one who had rave reviews for SL 300/20th Cent. WH, to either supplement with that or I think they were doing the MFW US Hist in one year and using SL 20th Cent. for grade 12. I am pretty sure we will be using MFW for HS for the same reasons Margo mentioned. And, since my dd's will be doing MFW right after finishing up a 2 yr SL WH set of cores, I am now confident they won't have missed anything. Even with my eldest dd, we can tweak and adjust for 10th-12th. Thanks all!

Mary

dd14, dd13, dd11

[grace4me]

Margo,

I just pulled out Usborne World Wars that we have from SL Core 7. You might want to take a look at it when you get to WWI and WWII. Visual, Internet links, looks good to flesh out that time period.